Forbidden Fruit
by Simply Hopeless
Summary: Ch.1up! Forbidden fruit is supposed to be the sweetest fruit imaginable. So much so that our accursed cat cannot help but to take the one thing from Akito that could mean sudden death if caught. Yaoi


Hello Simply Hopeless with this new story for you. This story is dedicated to Kia, a friend of mine, for her special day. It's her b-day and I wish her only good vibes. Okay now that that is out of the way here comes the disclaimer. I do not own, nor will I ever own Fruits basket or any basket, unless it's an Easter basket… or even a laundry basket. But that's beside the point. I hope you enjoy this story Kia and readers and do not mind my goofiness right now. I get this way when I'm sleepy cause it's like 2:39 in the morning.

Italics means dream.

**Forbidden Fruit**

Prologue

Brown eyes watched the dizzying trail of a bumblebee ambling lazily by in the air. It's body finally deciding to settle onto a flower only to have it dip slightly under the weight of the insect.

"Hmm," murmured the male. He found himself traveling towards the insect and crouching to watch the insect closely. Brown eyes taking in the antennas that warbled to communicate to him in its on little language before the bee went back to drinking from the flower.

He would have reached a finger to touch at the bee's furry body but paused when it suddenly took off. The drunken droning it made was nothing less but captivating as it shot into the air. The man had no idea that the drunken bee could fly so straight up when he spotted something.

A flash of orange was seen among the limbs of one of the oldest trees in the Sohma compound. It was one of three other trees that stood probably up to blanket over the main house. It's massive branches lending shade during the merciless summers.

He was sure that if it weren't for that reason in particular then Akito would have cut it down long ago. Cut down such majesty because she might consider it an eyesore among the well groomed and manicured lawns and gardens of the entire estate.

'But Akito allows my garden to roam wild,' he thought reflectively. His fingers ghosted over the heavy petals of a rose. The crimson leaves the color of fresh blood seemed so soft to the touch. The dizzying scent it gave off mixed well with other flowers in the garden that had to climb, had to reach and conquer the walls… a bench, anything in it's vicinity.

It was rampant and yet it was clipped enough so that it wasn't overpowering. It was his utopia and Akito knew it, knew it and allowed it. It was the least she could do for one who could rarely see the world. 'No I must stay close to Akito always,' he thought. His fingers curling around the rose's head nearly crushing it at the thought before loosening his grip.

The petals falling like splattered blood onto the grass. The male Sohma stared in wonder at the petals wondering if it was a sign of something to come. 'Is this an omen?' he thought as he looked at his hand. One petal clung to his palm like blood before he allowed the last petal to be shaken from his. Watching it as it lazily drifted to join its brothers on the ground.

Letting out a sigh he came closer to the tree so that he could see. A massive branch neatly rested on the roof of his home. It was something that he could reach if he wanted. Just jump up to grab the awning on the roof before swinging up. And before he realized it he was on the roof, not even realizing it until he looked back. Back at his garden and wondered for a moment, 'Was this even close to Eden's beauty?'

He strongly doubted it but it was peaceful nevertheless. It was the perfect resting place the rooster as he stretched his long limbs out on the roof. His fingers cupping the back of his head as he watched the leaves dancing in the wind. The light shone through as best as it could to leave a dappling effect on his entire body as well as the roof he was on.

'So peaceful,' he thought trying to forget what had happened yesterday. Trying his best to forget that Honda girl who had managed to make her way into the Sohma compound. His mind didn't want to think of Uo or even a red head who had started to haunt his dream for a while now. 'Yes… just sleep,' he thought as he drifted off into a dream.

_He was sunning on the roof. His eyes taken up with the dancing leaves when his attentions were diverted by a set of coughing. His head shot up and he looked around, his body slowly standing up from it's crouched position on the roof. "A… Akito?" he asked curiously._

_He truly didn't know why the god's name came to his lips. But once it was there he couldn't stop himself from asking. His body was quickly taken up with concern for the sickly girl. Part of him wondering what had drawn him to the sickly invalid in the first place when he knew how derange she seemed. But he knew… he knew about the promise he had made… that him and the other three made._

'_Akito…' he thought sadly before voicing his concern. "Akito… Akito are you okay?" he cried out in concern. He hopped quickly from his roof and moved towards where he saw the god fallen. He didn't even bother to allow his body to adjust to the shock of hitting the ground before he quickly ran to the female's side._

'_If it wasn't for me being on the roof then I wouldn't have seen her,' he thought. Thanking whatever gods up there for allowing him to be drawn to his roof. He reached out to help the god that had fallen to the ground. The fits of coughing too much for her frail frame but the ten-year-old only pushed him away._

'_She's ten?' he thought in surprise before shaking it off._

"_Leave me. You sicken me right now," she gasped before falling into a volley of coughing. Her face screwed up in pain as she hacked only to have the draw closer._

"_But Akito you need me," protested the male as he drew her closer to him._

"_Kureno who I need and want now isn't you. I need Gin and if you were sm… smart you would bring him to me right away," she said bitterly among her fits of coughing._

"_Of course Akito," the thirteen-year-old Kureno nodded his head. He quickly sat the god down gently on the ground before rushing to the doctor's office. He knew that he could not dawdle with things such as getting her a proper seat. Knowing that if he did that she would curse him for not bringing Gin faster._

"_Damn it… I almost had him. Had him in my grasp," Akito said bitterly to herself. _

'_Had what?' Kureno wondered stopping in his quick walking to look back briefly to see Akito looking up at the dizzying heights of the tree. He watched as her pale fingers opened and closed into fists as dark eyes looked up at the treetop with such hatred. "I wanted to wring his little neck, had almost had…" she began before another fit of coughing took her._

_Kureno winced and quickly ran as fast as he could. His fingers gripping the sliding door of Gin's office door before barking out his order. "Help Akito now. She's beside the big tree by my house," he snapped before running to be with Akito. He didn't care to stay already knowing that the old doctor followed. Not caring that she brought along a silent fifteen-year-old Hatori to observe._

_Just as he reached Akito's side he found himself back on the roof. Blinking in confusion he wondered what it could have been that brought him there. His brown eyes looking down on his grounds to see where Akito was but the god was nowhere to be seen._

'_That's odd,' he thought. He scratched his head and was ready to jump down off the roof knowing his mother would be worried about him. But just as he readied himself to jump down he heard a cry. This time the cry came from above and he saw the flash of fiery orange._

'_Is there a cat stuck in the tree?' he thought. Kureno looked slightly confused as he easily climbed up on the thick branch on his house. He had never had to deal with a cat stuck up in a tree before but he couldn't just let it stay there… could he?_

_So he pushed on determined to climb, a foot or two until he encountered the supposed cat. His brown eyes widening in surprise when he saw a frighten five-year-old looking back at him. Crimson eyes the color of his roses, stared back at him as the boy pressed his body as close to the tree's trunk as he could._

"_You aren't going to… going to… please I sorry… I…" stuttered out the boy frighten beyond belief._

"_Was it you that she wanted to hurt?" asked Kureno measurably. He held out his hand to the frighten boy who looked at it warily. Brown eyes watching as the scared little boy nodded his head meekly._

"_I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to get in her way," he gasped before flinging his little body against the older boy. "I sorry really," he cried out childishly. His face buried against Kureno's chest. "I just wanted to… wanted to pick some flowers for mommies. I didn't know it was his flowers," sobbed the boy._

"_I see…" Kureno murmured and pet the red head's head. He wondered vaguely whether he should take the boy to Akito or not. But he winced at the idea knowing that she would probably scar the boy with not just words but bruises. "I'm going to take you down now," he announced for the boy's benefit._

_He wrapped his arms around the little boy's frame and pulled him as close to his thin body as he could. Then with no qualms at all he began to jump from branch to branch. Lower and lower until he was back in his utopia where he gently set the boy down._

_The boy allowed his arms to fall from Kureno's neck, the rooster not even knowing that the boy had wrapped them there before. He just watched as the boy looked down at the ground shyly, his feet kicking at the grass before he allowed his head to tilt up. Different emotions were warring on his face, all wanting to be ahead._

"_I'm in trouble… aren't I?" he said solemnly. Kureno thought too solemnly for a five year old. "I keep… I keep hurting people… I don't…."he began looking away from Kureno only to be interrupted._

"_Pick any flower that you want from my garden. But remember next time not to wander on your own," inserted Kureno. He gave the boy a stern look but his eyes soften dramatically as those crimson eyes looked up at him. His eyes so big and full of wonder, his mouth agape in wonder before it curled into a smile._

"_I… thank you Mister," smiled the little boy shyly. He then looked away, his tanned cheeks slightly flushed before he moved towards the flowers. His crimson eyes drinking in the sight of the garden seeming to appreciate more then Kureno ever did. "They are all so beautiful," he sighed admiringly before reaching to grab a rose. "I want this," he said firmly._

"_Then take it but be careful," Kureno cautioned. His head in acceptance watching the boy delicately break the stem. He felt a flicker of sadness at the ending of the flowers life before he felt something pushed into his hand. He looked down in wonder at the tiger lily that he didn't know he had that was now offered to him. "Thank you…" he trailed off unsure of the boy's name._

"_Kyo, my name Kyo," the boy said proudly._

"_Yes Kyo. I'll try to remember," Kureno offered him a miniscule smile. Then gasped as he felt the boy barreling into him. Small arms clutching around his waist as chrisom eyes looked up at him._

'_When did Kyo grow up?' he thought as he looked at the eight year old boy, he himself already fifteen._

"_S… S… Shishou wanted me to… to leave you but I… I said no," hiccupped Kyo beyond tears. They spilled down from his cheeks but he roughly scrubbed them awa with the back of his hand._

"_Kyo… you know you shouldn't be seeing me. You will be in trouble if Akito ever captured you," scolded Kureno lightly. He ran his fingers through the orange locks marveling how something so fiery didn't burn his hands._

"_But you're alone here, right? No one will notice if I sneak in nice and quietly," protested Kyo, frowning deeply. He held a bandage on his cheek from his last fight with Yuki as he looked almost accusingly at Kureno trying to see if the rooster would deny him this friendship._

"_Even if you snuck in here it's not right," Kureno said firmly as he pulled the boy at arms length._

"_Do you really want me to go away Kure-kun?" accused Kyo looking up at him with those crimson eyes of his. He then scuffed and looked away. "Figures," he murmured under his breath ready to shrug Kureno's hands away._

"_I…hey don't say things like that," sighed Kureno. "I'm just worried about you Kyo…" he trailed off._

"_I'm more worried about you. No one… no one deserves to be with Akito for… for that long. I thought you were… you were lonely," sighed Kyo pulling away from Kureno. He looked away, his face settled in a frown. "I don't… don't want you to be as corrupt as Akito. If I'm not there you'll lose your self, don't say you won't," he nearly yelled. His hands balled into fists as he stomped his foot._

"_Hey Kyo?" Kureno asked softly to grab Kyo's chin. Slowly drawing it upward so the boy had no choice but to look into Kureno's brown eyes._

"_Huh, Kure-kun?" Kyo blinked up at him in confusion._

"_You don't seem to learn your lesson, do you?" smiled Kureno crookedly. He pulled the five year old from the tree and watched in amusement as the child cuddled up to him._

"_Nu uh," said Kyo shaking his head happily. He sighed happily as he buried his face against Kureno's neck._

"_You're going to get us in a whole lot of trouble," sighed Kureno as he hopped down into his garden. He made sure he looked back so that no one would see him._

"_I don't wanna have Kure-kun in trouble," mumbled Kyo. He pulled his face from the older boy's neck to look at him in concern. "But Kagura-nee-san was chasing me and trying to kiss me and I was like eeeww and she was like aaaww," he said in distaste._

_He looked up in surprise when he heard Kureno's rich chuckling before smiling. A satisfied look on the little boy's face for making the fifteen year old laugh. Then his eyes widen in surprise as a surprised giggle escaped out. He was tackled swiftly to the ground where he struggled to escape._

"_Rrraawwwrr I'm a monster. Rrraaawwwr," growled Kureno tickling the six year old Kyo down. He smiled ferociously in pleasure as the boy giggled and let out pleading gasps to escape his lips. _

"_Stop… please… ahahaha… I can't… AHAHHA," squealed Kyo in laughter. Tears of laughter already spilling down his cheeks when Kureno stopped. And as soon as it was done the little boy settled down. His mouth open wide to take in ear before he slowly looked away. "Do you… do you think me a… a real monster Kureno-kun," Kyo breathed softly deciding to forfeit the nickname he had for him._

"_A… monster?" Kureno frowned and allowed the blanket over his head to fall. "Is that what…"Kureno began before stopping. Those crimson eyes stared at him so seriously that the smile that he wore quickly fell away._

"_Yes…" trailed off Kyo once again seeming to grow older before his eyes. This time he was ten and seemed to be more distant knowing that they could not be together for any longer. His tanned fingers brushing back the curtains to one of the many disused rooms in Kureno's house. _

_He nodded his head meekly before sitting up to lookout of the window. "They all call me that. I have no horns but they scared of me. But I don't… I don't wanna be a monster like Akito said," he began, his voice starting to tremble. "Why was I born under this sign Kureno-kun? What did I do so bad in my other life that it means me sufferning like this in the next one?" he hissed out in rage._

"_Kyo I don't think of you as a monster okay," the eighteen year old teenager said gathering Kyo into his arms who had once more reverted into a small boy. _

_Kyo smiled happily. "I'm glad Kure-kun," sighed the boy happily. His head leaned back against the boy's chest as he snuggled close as if prepared to sleep._

"_Kyo…" trailed off Kureno._

"_We'll play together again. Right Kure-kun?" yawned Kyo sleepily. Crimson eyes looking up at Kureno when he didn't answer right away while small fingers curled around his sleeve to shake._

"_Kureno-kun?" Kyo asked worriedly seeming far off. Then standing up in fear as Hatori came to take him away. The rooster had little time to protest before a hand covered his eyes. A blast of light was seen before nothingness, leaving him feeling empty._

"_Kuuur-reeee-nnnoo" someone said in a singsong voice._

"KURENO!" cried out someone urgently.

"Kureno-sama wake up. Akito wants you," the maid cried out urgently. She gave the rooster another shake of his shoulder so that the twenty-five year old man was forced to sit up.

"Akito… Akito is in trouble?" he asked groggily trying to wipe away the sleep. He couldn't remember for the life of him what or whom he had been dreaming about. As he slowly stood onto his feet he brushed back his light brown hair away. He didn't even know he had gotten from the roof and onto his own futon.

His eyes widen in surprise as he saw a boy standing by the window. Red hair seeming on fire as crimson eyes stared out sadly at the moonlight Sohma estate. And as if the boy knew that someone was watching they turned their crimson eyes on him. The soft jingling of black and white beads on his wrist moving as he shifted for a better look.

"Come back to me… okay?" breathed the apparition. He pushed his small body from the window his crimson eyes trained on Kureno in longing before vanishing all together.

"Kureno-sama please!" the maid cries out urgently. The woman, embolden, grabbed his wrist and tugged on it firmly leaving rooster no choice but to turn. His brown eyes widening in realization at what the maid said before yanking away and running down the hallway to attend to his Akito.

"We'll play together again. Right Kure-kun?"

A/N: I'm sorry if it seems confusing but everything in italics is a dream. Dreams… or at least my dreams seem to bleed in together with other things. Like one minute I'm talking to this person and the next moment I'm running for my life, clutching the guy's hand. So Kureno's memories are bleeding together. But he doesn't recognize the little boy he dreamt about. Hope you enjoy and please review.


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